Is Ben Carson just another Republican grifter, or an honest-to-goodness presidential candidate who puts winning above expanding his personal brand and making money? His answer seems to be "Can't I do both?" But his actions suggest that if push comes to shove, it's not the presidential candidacy that wins out.
Carson is currently alternating between doing a non-campaign book tour for his book A More Perfect Union, while taking a break from public campaign events between October 2 and October 28. He is, however, doing 20 campaign fundraisers between now and that next public campaign appearance. And anyway, in addition to book sales making money for Ben Carson personally, when your campaign is completely media-focused, what's the difference between a book event and a campaign event?
Carson may not be frequenting diners and cafés in early states, but he is invading millions of television sets nationwide, making over 100 media appearances (radio and TV) since the book was released.
“He’s been on TV. I think Wednesday through Friday I got sick of looking at him on TV,” [spokesman Doug] Watts said. “So it’s pretty hard to suggest that he’s not out and about. Whether you make a distinction of it as a campaign thing or not. Most people at home just see Ben Carson out there talking about something that’s is or isn’t important to them.”
Talking about his book, talking about his campaign ... eh, six of one, half a dozen of the other. It's not just that he's taking time away from campaigning, though. Would a Ben Carson book be getting that much media attention if Carson wasn't a top Republican presidential candidate? So he's literally using his campaign success to get attention for his book, which is taking him away from his campaign. I'm not sure Sarah Palin could do any better at the GOP grifter act than this.